Browse by Label: LAMPSE AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS (UK)

Artist:	ENAVOMI
Title:	Vinden Blåser Bakåt
Label:	LAMPSE AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	LIGHT 001CD

"The third release from Lampse Audiovisual Recordings, and the first in their new EP series, to be identified by the Light catalogue number. Enavomi songs carry the avant-jazz influence of such artists as Alice Coltrane, Supersilent, Samsa'ra and Bayashi as well as the noise elements and DIY aesthetic found in Wolf Eyes. Enavomi is sleeping tablet Imovane spelt backwards. Bror Tryggve Martin Lund, is a Swede now relocated to Norway and just entering his twenties. Apart from conventional studio tools one of the primary instruments for Enavomi is his own voice, expressed through the art of throat singing. Enavomi's music represents a new generation of young experimental enthusiasts that can now access vast amounts of alternative and otherwise unobtainable music online, explore it and be directly inspired. His influences do not stop there. Regularly attending Oslo's buzzing underground jazz and improv performances, Tryggve has absorbed their essence and formed his own approach to music-making. He primarily considers himself to be an improviser not belonging to any style or school. Most of the tracks refuse to follow a set tempo and have an unashamed lo-fi quality that instantly connects with the listener. Honest and sometimes brutal, Tryggve's music is often the result of an internal battle, he creates sonic environments where different elements appear through juxtaposition: ambient parts woven with bittersweet melodies settle alongside noise and untuned guitars. Renderings of childhood memories and unfortunate events, his tracks have the energy and spontaneity of unexplored youth surrounded by premature knowledge."

Artist:	OFFICE-R(6)
Title:	Mundane Occurences and Presentations
Label:	LAMPSE AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS (UK)
Format:	CD EP
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	LIGHT 002CD

"Based in Amsterdam the members originally come from Norway, the Netherlands, Turkey and the US. Among other experimental groups, they form part of the N Collective, 'an international network of musicians, improvisers and composers' which 'develop new music in the fields of improv, electronic music, noise, jazz, and contemporary music.' An electro-acoustic unit, Office-R(6) manage, in this process, to initiate an interesting dialogue between the electronic and the acoustic part of their sound. Each member of the group uses its advanced skills to maintain an impressive accuracy throughout each piece, which results in an almost mathematically precise combination of acoustic improvisation, electronic textures and sound experimentation. This hyperactive collision of prepared and intuitive elements though does not rule out the human touch. Among the frantic explosions of tones, samples and textures, the various parts of this unorthodox orchestra momentarily unite in a short climax, only to fall apart in the next split second. This continuous musical charge and change of pace is the driving force behind the group's dynamics, marking a tour de force of both discipline and stamina. Office-R(6)'s friendly experimentation is informed by many different chapters of musical history. From legendary acts like Evan Parker, MEV and Anthony Braxton to contemporaries John Zorn (Game Pieces) and the Finnish Rauhan Orkesteri, the group's musical references cannot be pin-pointed to a singular source. Their sound is, instead, in constant flux, kept together by the determination to explore the boundaries of structured improvisation and the fusion between the electronic and the acoustic in a non-restricted environment."

Artist:	NACHT PLANK
Title:	Septs Vents
Label:	LAMPSE AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	LAMP 001CD

"Metamatics' Lee Norris has created, under the Nacht Plank moniker, a warm and crunchy album full of otherworldly ambience and nostalgia. As Septs Vents unravels itself, it draws us into its timeless universe evoking the qualities of objects unearthed years after they've been buried. It was time we brought this small symphony of vintage instruments to the public. Septs Vents is not an album that can be described in earthly measures, nor does it follow any specific song-writing rules. Instead, the eleven tracks seem to have a life of their own, constantly evolving and changing according to an internal set of parameters. Its strange sounds and textures make it impossible to associate with our known world, and its inaccessible titles only add to the mystery surrounding the music. Its looping melodies and sample patterns resemble coded messages from a long-forgotten spaceship, trapped in a far away galaxy. Forever locked in its orbit, it transmits broken signals from worn out tapes that only a sensitive ear like Nacht Plank's could receive. Blended with carefully filtered piano and guitar recordings and surrounded by an ensemble of vintage synthesizers, they are the basic ingredients of each track. All these samples and sounds are then repeated and layered after they are given their place in the song. Nacht Plank's music does not only exist within those samples, but in the space between them and in the way they interact with each other. Similar to Eisenstein's montage theory about film content, he has found his own formula that lies behind each of these tracks, holding it together. Lampse is a record label set to release contemporary and experimental music, combined with exciting and challenging visual material. Spanning avant-garde to electronic, improvisational jazz to dark ambient, all releases are based on strong artistic concepts and have a unique personality. With artists of a broad and varied geographical origin, Lampse attempts to document the most interesting developments in modern music from around the world."

Artist:	FJELLSTRØM, MARCUS
Title:	Exercises In Estrangement
Label:	LAMPSE AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	LAMP 002CD

"The title of this album summarizes in two words what the listener's expectations should be. The word 'exercise' might have to protect ourselves from something alien that will make us want to turn away. What young composer Marcus Fjellström has given us is a collection of very dark and melancholic pieces with a strange beauty. Normally composing works for orchestras and chamber musicians, as well as scores for films, these two practises have filtered through in 'Exercises.' Long, haunting ambient tracks are reminiscent of dark Lynchian worlds. Frantic orchestral moments could be the soundtrack to a Svankmajer mechanical puppet show or even a surreal circus performance. Like all the above would not qualify for an easy viewing, so Marcus' music is not one to embrace very quickly. It requires repeated listening in order to peel through all the layers and find the hidden musical pathways he has laid for us. An obvious comparison is the works of avant-garde composers such as John Cage, Steve Reich and Luciano Berio. A stronger reference point though would be the early experimentations of leading electronic music composer and Cage's close friend Morton Subotnick, as well as the output of modern electronica mavericks Aphex Twin and Autechre. Marcus, like them, acknowledges the advantages of the electronic medium and doesn't hesitate to place it at the centre of his work. Exercises In Estrangement is a strong example of the possible directions in modern (classical) music. Already paved by names such as Ligeti, Thomas Köner, Supersilent and Deathprod, to name but a few, the path is long..."

Artist:	JASPER TX
Title:	I'll Be Long Gone Before My Light Reaches You
Label:	LAMPSE AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	LAMP 003CD

"Why would a Swedish musician choose the name of a Texas county as his moniker? Well, if you have the conscious and sensitive psyche that Dag Rosenqvist has, it's no wonder you'd want to pay your respects, through music, to a man who lost his life because of his skin colour. A true dedication to analogue gear and lo-fi aesthetics is at the core of Dag's musical heart and Jasper TX's music. A deep understanding of sound allows him to build rich sonic textures extrapolated from various sources. A multi-instrumentalist, he places guitar at the centre of his songs, to which he then adds organ, drums, toy piano, field recordings, voice and of course many layers of effects. Taking his influences from a variation of genres and techniques (post rock, ambient and folk music, western religious musical patterns, processed/filtered instruments and field recordings) Jasper TX references a number of artists, from Fennesz and Sigur Ros to Mum and compatriots Tape, while staying true to his creative vision. I'll be long gone... is a very personal album driven by strong sentiments and an introverted melancholy. Its changing patterns create a balanced dynamism that feeds a never-ending ebb and flow between delicate melodies and distorted ambience. The seven songs float from distilled sadness to discreet euphoria, and through them Dag is paying homage to all that is beautiful about this world. The shifting mood is reflected not only in the music but also in the titles, small excerpts from the sad tale of a broken heart."

Artist:	GULTSKRA ARTIKLER
Title:	Pofigistka
Label:	LAMPSE AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	LAMP 004CD

"The latest emission from the gorgeous Lampse imprint, Pofigistka is the product of Alexey Devyanin (Stud) and Dmitry Garin (engineer_ garin) who (positioned at opposing ends of the Russian tundra) have joined forces to create the two-headed beast that is Gultskra Atrikler. Raking influences through a bed of hot coals, Pofigistka is cinematic in scope whilst retaining a level of immediacy that renders it achingly personal; alternating between broad sweeps of sound one moment and finely wrought aural dissertations the next. Opening through the glitch-fed guitars of 'Fizik Dydya Kolya,' Garin & Devyanin blend a shimmering palate of chiming frets and percussion, resulting in a sound that, whilst overtly diffused, can nonetheless unite a spectrum of sounds into a compelling whole which is both fantastic, catchy and totally bewitching. Elsewhere the likes of 'Siluet Kollet' and 'Otpusk Navesgda' manage to sound both contemporary and nostalgic at the same time -- the kind of music which gives sonic innovation a (very) good name. Backed up by some remixery from the likes of Xela, Svarte Greiner (Erik K. Skodvin of Deaf Center no less!) and Marcus Fjellstrom, Pofigistka is like a shot of vodka for the soul."

Artist:	MACHINEFABRIEK
Title:	Marijn
Label:	LAMPSE AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	LAMP 005CD

"Fusing treated piano with post rock influenced guitar pieces and epic works of decomposing droning feedback, this is a record for fans of William Basinski, Fennesz, Mogwai, Earth and Sunn O))). Machinefabriek is the eagerly awaited debut full-length from Dutch musician Rutger Zuydervelt. It comes in a timely fashion after a handful of gorgeous hand-made CD-R releases have filtered through the cracks on a regular basis over the last few months, the last two releases Manchester and Chinese (Un)Popular Song being the most acclaimed in the series yet! Marijn marks not only Zuydervelt's first album proper, but also a shift in thought, as he draws a line under the experimentation of his previous work to come up with a thoughtful collection of tracks, written together for the purpose of being played in one sitting. The album begins with crackly, slowly decomposing cassette-taped piano, in a similar vein to William Basinski's seminal Melancholia album, yet this is much noisier and more processed -- if William Basinski had a cache of effects pedals, this might be what he'd sound like. Quickly following this we have 'Somerset;' a gorgeous piece of menacing but oddly soothing reverberated guitar, reminiscent of the best bits of Earth's wonderful Hex album, yet also coming across like Mogwai, back when they used to have true lo-fi attitude or Fennesz with real heart. Throughout the rest of the album, Zuydervelt toys with more extended piano pieces and fuses them with droning feedback maybe best compared to Sunn O))) jamming with Ryuchi Sakamoto! The final piece on the album 'Lawine' is the best example of this; an epic 20- minute work, beginning with a simple piano jam but ending in a cascade of noise that would shake the nerves of even Wolf Eyes. Marijn is a true step forward for the genre and an easy contender for album of the year."

Artist:	FJELLSTRØM, MARCUS
Title:	Gebrauchsmusik
Label:	LAMPSE AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	LAMP 006CD

"Gebrauchsmusik is German for 'Utility Music', and Swedish composer and producer Marcus Fjellström's second excursion into post-classical experimentation is exactly that; thirteen tracks with each one written to suit a certain theme. War, art, festivity, sadness, death and resurrection are all interpreted by Fjellström in his unique style, taking a classical framework and distorting, confusing and manipulating it to suit his needs. String sections are crushed into a smokey Lynchian haze while staccato plucking is twisted to give out an almost Autechre-like resonance. While listening to Gebrauchsmusik it can be difficult to hear where the acoustic instruments stop and the electronic manipulation begins, a line which has been approached somewhat gingerly for some time now and rarely managed so effortlessly. The obvious comment on listening to music as unashamedly visual as this is that it sounds like a film score, Fjellström here has gone all the way on Gebrauchsmusik writing music which almost requires to be slotted into a piece of cinema -- 'War Music' should be paired with the disturbing images of battle, 'Fairytale Music' should skip and wisp around an enchanted forest and 'Death Music' should be signaling a funeral procession in it's solemn grandeur. Taking influence from John Cage, Morton Feldman and David Lynch's right hand man Angelo Badalamenti, Fjellström has developed a style which manages to transcend the current classical/electronic explosion. It is clear from the offset that the young musician has a deep understanding of what has come before as he blends elements of musique concrete, avant-classical and early electronic experimentations into his compositions. Instead of merely coming across as an homage, this album genuinely acts as a step forward in a crowded genre and is another daring leap for the forward-thinking Lampse label."

Artist:	SPLINT!
Title:	Moro
Label:	LAMPSE AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	LAMP 008CD

"Before joining Splint!, each of the members toured extensively through the years as part of many different projects, but strangely never as a group. Eventually the group of friends decided it was time they should get together and make music as a team which was a successful move, not only because they are four very talented musicians but because they can allow themselves to have fun. This naive enthusiasm is reflected in the album's concept and of course its title; 'Moro' loosely means fun in Norwegian, and is the word for 'baby' in Greek. Further more, the track titles are distorted words that the band's children mumbled when they first started to speak. With this spirit the band was able to approach the music in a fresh manner, without any inhibitions, or preconceptions, delivering something that is both mature but at the same time honest and unpretentious. The recording session for 'Moro' took place in Lundberg's red cottage on the Swedish countryside outside Ulricehamn. A few intense days of playing, eating, drinking and discussing the meaning of life resulted in many hours of improvised music, which was edited down carefully without any overdubs to form the album. The main element that defines the sound of Splint! is jazz improvisation with a strong electronic identity, fragments of Alice Coltrane, Albert Ayler or Ornette Coleman are buried amongst the electronic rattle-and-scrape of Autechre, and the combination is truly mindblowing. In this way they share a lot with Norwegian supergroup Supersilent, something that shouldn't surprise, as that band's drummer Jarle Vespestad used to play in an earlier version of Splint! and Nils-Olav Johansen, Splint!'s guitarist, has been guest with Vesslefraekk (Supersilent's previous incarnation). Carefully combining the academic with the experimental, the acoustic with the electronic, the melodic with the atonal, Spint! have created an album that is a prime example of contemporary electro-acoustic jazz. Without the need to impose or impress, they have taken raw materials and forged them into something that amuses, surprises, puzzles and excites us, just like a good toy does in the hands of a child."

Artist:	MACHINEFABRIEK
Title:	Weleer
Label:	LAMPSE AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS (UK)
Format:	2CD
Price:	$20.00
Catalog #:	LAMP 009CD

This is Dutchman Rutger Zuydervelt's second release for the Lampse Audiovisual Recordings label. His Machinefabriek project has captivated many listeners with his stunning and regular supply of home-made 3" CD-Rs, a project which Zuydervelt had been working on since 2003 and is still working on today. So, it was almost inevitable that at some point a compilation would have to be made from the series' finest moments. After a long period of deliberation, Lampse boss-lady Monika Herodotou and Zuydervelt came up with the perfect selection -- two full CDs of audio which play like "proper" albums rather than simple, haphazard collections of tracks, yet still contain enough audio insanity to confirm the rumor that Machinefabriek is a true musical enigma. It strikes us as quite horrifying how a man can actually produce this volume of music while keeping such an obvious level of quality control but somehow he does it -- there's not a dull moment on Weleer's 22 varied tracks. From the Eastern-flecked tongue-in-cheek gorgeousness of "Chinese Unpopular Song" to the ear-shattering cave-dwelling noise of "Hieperdepiep," and from the squealing power-electronics of "Bye Bye Boat, Bye Bye Building" to the truly epic 20-minute grandeur of "Lief," there is truly something here for every listener. There is also a great deal of hype surrounding Rutger Zuydervelt at the moment, and if you want to find out what the whole Machinefabriek thing is about anyway, there couldn't be a better place to start than Weleer. We simply couldn't imagine a finer collection of disturbed experimental music.

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